"The flavor here is all about molasses and spices, this is a special favorite fall and wintertime treat.
Gingerbread falls somewhere between a cake and a quick bread. This recipe uses milk and buttermilk for additional flavor and tenderness, and melted butter for a moist dense cake and has just the perfect combination of spices. Serve each slice topped with a big spoonful of sweetened whipped cream."

3/4 cup molasses (light or dark unsulphured molasses, use dark if you like your cake dark full flavored or light for a lighter flavor)

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 large egg

2 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest

TO SERVE

Whipped cream (sweetened, or Cool Whip)

Nutritional

Serving Size: 1 (141 g)

Calories 444

Total Fat - 12.1 g

Saturated Fat - 7.3 g

Cholesterol - 53.3 mg

Sodium - 290.2 mg

Total Carbohydrate - 80.4 g

Dietary Fiber - 1.1 g

Sugars - 55.8 g

Protein - 5.1 g

Calcium - 143.2 mg

Iron - 2 mg

Vitamin C - 0.1 mg

Thiamin - 0.1 mg

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare one 9x9x2 inch square pan; lightly grease the pan with shortening and dust with flour. Tip: to make baked cake easier to remove from pan, lightly grease the pan, line the pan with parchment paper, and then lightly grease the top of the parchment paper.

TO MAKE THE CAKE

Step 2

Step 3

In a large bowl of an electric mixer, combine melted and cooled butter, buttermilk, milk, molasses, sugar, egg, and lemon zest; beat on low to medium low speed until thoroughly blended. Add flour mixture and beat on medium speed until the batter is smooth and thick, about 1 minute, scraping the mixture off the paddle and scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula so the mixture blends evenly.

Step 4

Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface with a small offset spatula or the back of a large spoon.

Step 5

Bake 40 minutes or until a long toothpick, wooden skewer, or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place pan on a wire cooling rack to cool for at least 10 minutes

TO SERVE THE CAKE

Step 6

Serve each slice warm or cooled to room temperature with a large spoonful of sweetened whipped cream.